Elevator signal system.



0. S. JOHNSON.

ELEVATOR SIGNAL SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1912.

1,127,008. I Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

WITNESSES: 3 1 |NVENT0R 5;, g m CHARLES fldormsou.

THE NORRIS PETERS CC!" PHDTB-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D. C.

G. S. JOHNSON, ELEVATOR SIGNAL SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1912.

Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR CHARLES fIJOI-INSON.

(4am ATTORNEY HE NURRIS PETERS ca, FHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

WITNESSES:

. UNITED STATES P a TENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. JOHNSON, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

ELEVATOR SIGNAL SYSTEM.

Application filed. August 6, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at l )allas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Elevator Signal Sys items, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful elevator signal system. Its object is to provide an elevator signal system that will permit a party at any landing to indicate his desire to go up or down to the elevator operator by pressing' one of two push buttons, which are respectively adapted to close the circuit of two signal lights in the elevator cage, and are also adapted to respectively close the circuits of two signal lights in the elevator well, one of which will inform the operator from what landing the signal was given.

Another object of the invention is to provide an elevator signal system comprising electric circuits containing signal lights or equivalent devices provided in the elevator cage and in the elevator well, and containing also push buttons at each landing, adapted to close the circuits and to remain displaced in their circuit closing positions, until the circuit eliected is automatically opened by the elevator cage upon its arrival at the landing from which the signal was given.

A further object is to provide a novel form of push button, which will be so correlated with an electro-magnet as to close the circuit thereof, when pressed in, the electro-magnet serving to hold the push button in its contact forming position until the circuit including the electro-magnet has been broken by another means.

A still further object is to provide a novel mechanism forming part of an elevator signal system, by which mechanism the elevator cage will automatically break a certain electric circuit upon its arrival at a certain landing.

Finally the object of the invention is to provide an elevator signal system that will be eflicient in operation, and comparatively simple in construction, and not likely to get out of working order.

lVith these and various other objects in view, my invention has relation to certain novel features of the construction and operation, an example of which is described in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

Serial No. 713,600.

the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view of an elevator well, showing portions of the several floors, and showing diagrammatically the electrical connections of the herein described signal system, the elevator cage being shown in dash lines in its uppermost and lowermost positions. Fig. l is a detail view of a base or plate supporting two push buttons each correlated with an electro-magnet, one of said push buttons being shown in side elevation, and the other in section. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same device. Figs. 3 and 4: are respectively a front view and a side elevation of two normally closed circuit breaking devices mounted upon a suitable base. Fig. 5 is a front view of a button adapted to undergo horizontal displacement in a suitable casing, which casing will be carried by the elevator cage, the button being adapted to open the circuit closing devices shown in Figs. 3 and 4, an inclined bar also being shown one of which is mounted at the top and bottom of the elevator well to produce displacement of the button. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the incased button, the section being taken upon the line XX of Fig. 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate similar parts in all the figures, the numerals 1, 2, 3 and a respectively denote the first, second, third and fourth floors of a building, and the numeral 5 denotes an elevator well intersecting each of said floors. The elevator cage, which is adapted to travel up and down in the well, 5 and which is indicated in dash lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is designated by the numeral 6. lVithin the cage 6, there are mounted two signal lights 7 and 8, the former, when lighted, indicating to the elevator operator that he will stop for a passenger during the upward travel of the cage, and the latter, when lighted, furnishing a similar indication during downward travel. These two lights may be distinguished from each other by being respectively marked Up and Down or by difference in colorsor merely by their difi'erence in positions. Between each two floors, two lamps 9 and 10 are mounted in the elevator well, in such a position as to be visible to the elevator operator during thetravel' of the car the former lamp when lighted, serving to indicate to the operator that a passenger is to be taken on at the floor above; and the latter when lighted serving to indicate that a passenger is to be taken on at the floor below. These lamps also may be distinguished from each other either merely by position or in some other suitable manner. At each landing, there are mounted two push buttons of like construction. This construction will now be described. The buttons are adj acentlymounted upon a base 10. preferably one above theother. The buttons proper, which are designated by the numeral 11 are of the usual cylindrical shape; and are passed slida'b'ly through the base 10? in the usual manner and made to project slightly beyond the front surface of said base. The rear extremity of each button 11 is rigidly connected with a rectangular body 12 of .in'si'illating material, which body is mounted within a casing 13 and is adapted to undergo a slight sliding displace ment within said casing whenthe button is displaced inwardly or outwardly. The casing 13 is held in a rigid spaced relation to the base by a plurality of bracketarms 14.

. The rear extremity of the casing l3 is closed by a plate ll. of insulating materiah said plate being held in place byany suitable means- {The rear extremity of the body 12 is slightly spaced from the plate llaforming a recess li .A' solenoid magnet 15 is mounted upon each insulating plate 141-, with its axis alined' with the centerline of the correlated button 11. Each. of the magnets 15. contains a plunger core 16, having its forward extremity rigidly connected withv the rear end of the body 12 by screw-threads or some other. suitable means. A short stationary. core 17 willo'ccupy the rear portion of thefltubular. aperture 175. into which aperture the core 16 projectsgth'e rear endof the core 16 beingnormally spaced from the core l7as is shown in sectional portion of lama. coiled spfring;,18-.is carried" bythe plunger. core 16 within-the recess 14"; which spring bearing. upon the.- rear extremity of the body 12. tends to hold the-parts 11,112 and 16 normally, displaced to their forward limitingv'positions. A .pin 19 is transversely mounted inthe middle portion of the body 12, andoccupies .a. fixed relation tosaid boc y. The extremities of sai'd pins project some distance beyond the lateral faces of the body12," being made to pass through slots 19* in the adjacent lateral faces ofthe case mg 13. The slots 19 have a. sufiicient length to permit the pin. 19, to-undergo the displacement to which it is subiected during movement of. the? body ,12 between its hmitingpjositions; The plate 1.4? is. proyidjed with diametrically opposite, project- 111g portions 20 to each of which there are 'sejcu e d the-rear. exti e 'nities of .apair of spring contact members 21, having their forward extremities spaced from the extremities of the pin 19 under normal conditions. The contact members 21 of each pair have their forward extremities deflected slightly from each other in orderto guide the adjacent extremity of the pin 19 between said members 2.1 when the push button is pressed-subjecting the pin to a rearward displacement. It is thus apparent that the pin 19 is adapted to close an electrical circuit between the two pairs of contact.members 21 and. between the m'embersof each pair when the push! button is pressed.

i'tdescription will now be given ofa pair of circuit breaking devices v which are. to be mounted in the elevator well adjacent .to eachlanding as is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1. Each pair of these devices .is mounted upon a base plate 2 and each device comprises a.l. ow-shaped spring 23 rigidly secured to the base 2 at one end asin: dicated at 24, the other or free ends of; said spring beingzidapted .to normally contact with a. terminal member 25 .mounted: fast upon the plate 2-2, the free end of the spring being made to project beneath .the terminal plate 25, and the outwardly acting resilient force of the spring serving. to. normally maintain contact between the .I'nembers23 and 25. Asis. clearly shown in Fig. 3, the circuit, breaking devices are. inversely mounted upon the plate 22, the free end of the spring 23 being uppermost in one case andlowermostin the other. 1 1; 1

Upon the bottom portion .ofthe' elevator cage is ,mounted a rectangular casing 26 provided .with a horizontal slot 27 inits front surface. lVi'thinsaid casing is mount edaa sliding rectangular block28 carrying a button 29 which projects, through thfes'lot 27, and is provided withan insulating tip 29% In. thegtwo limiting; positions of displacement of the, sliding block 28',tl1e button .29-..is adapted to contact[respectively with the two circuit breakingdevices.,at each landing, displacing the. spring ,'meinbers 23 .of the effected circuit, b'reakinfgdevice suiiiciently to break contact between said spring and the terminal plate 25,. The

pairs-of circuit breaking devices at tliesseveral landings will be verticallyalined, in order that. one, devi'ceofeach pair maybe effected by the button 29 vduringboth the upward and downward travel of the car.

Thus the springs 23 having their free ends uppermost will .all be acted upon :by the button .29.,during the u'pward travel at the cary and during the downward travel of the car, said button will act ,uponhall of the springs .23 having their free. ends. lower most; It is ;o.b,vious,therefore, ;,tl1at the button 29/and; the correlated block ,=28 1nust undergo a slighthorizontal displacement Isii thence to the wire when the car reaches its uppermost and lowermost limiting positions of travel. This displacement is accomplished in each case by an inclined bracket arm 30 projecting downwardly at a sufiicient divergence from the vertical to produce the desired displacement of the button upon coming into contact with the same. One extremity of each bracket arm 30 will be secured to a wall of the elevator well, in such a manner that the button will contact with the under surface of the upper member 30 just be fore the car reaches its uppermost limiting position, and said button will contact with the upper surface of the lower member 30 just before the car reaches its lowermost limiting position. Thus the button 29 with its correlated block 28 will be automatically shifted back and forth according as the car reaches the top and bottom of the well.

The various devices forming part of the system having been above explained, a description will now be given of the electrical connections between said devices. The numerals 32 and 33 denote two wires forming an electric circuit extending from bottom to top of the elevator well 5 and receiving current from any source, as for example, a

battery 34:. From one of the upper contact members 21 of each push button marked Down'(excepting only the uppermost of said button), a wire 35 extends to the lamp 10 next above said push button, and from said lamp, the wire is extended to the wire 33. From the other upper contact member 21 of each Down button, a wire 36 establishes a connection to a wire 37 extending from top to bottom of the elevator well. Between the wires 37 and 33 is connected the lamp 8 in the elevator cage, which lamp serves to give the Down signal to the operator. From one of the lower contact members 21 of each Down button, a wire 38 is extended to the wire 32. From the other lower contact of each Down button, a conductor 39, which includes in its circuit the coil of the electromagnet 15 correlated with said button, extends to the spring member 23 of the circuit breaking device which is actuated during downward travel. of the car. A wire e'tO establishes electrical connection between the terminal. member 25 of the same device and the wire 33. From one of the lower contact mem bers 21 of each Up button, a wire 41 is extended to a wire 42 extending from top to bottom of the elevator well. From the other lower contact member 21 of each; Up button, a wire 43 is extended through the lamp 9 next below said button and From one of the upper contact members 21 of each Up button, a wire 44: establishes an electrical connection with the wire 32. From the other upper contact member 21 of each Up button, an electrical conductor 45 including in its circuit, the coil of the solenoid 15 correlated with said button is extended to the terminal plate 25 of the circuit breaking device which is actuated during the upward travel of the elevator cage. From the spring member 23 of the same device, a wire 46 is extended to the wire 40.

The operation of the above described elevator signal system will now be explained. It is apparent that when either and Up or a Down push button is pressed, the pin 19 will establish an electrical connection between the four contact members 21. If a party upon any landing, therefore, presses an Up push button, a closed circuit will be established between the two wires 32 and 33 through the coil 15, the wire 45, one of the circuit breaking devices, comprising the members 23 and 25, a wire 40, and the wire 4-1. The current flowing through the coils of the electro-magnet 15 will set up a mag netic force that will hold the plunger core 16 in its rearwardly displaced position, thus maintaining an electrical connection be tween the four contact members 21 until such time as the circuit of the solenoid mag net is broken. The pressing of the Up button will also close a circuit between the wires 32 and 33 through the wires 4:3 and the lamps 9 just below the flooi at which the push button was pressed, and through the wire 44. Still another closed circuit between the wires 32 and 33 will be maintained through the wire 11, the wire 42, the lamp 7, and the wire 44. lVhen the Up button has been pressed, therefore, the lamp 7 in the elevator cage will be lighted indicating to the elevator operator that he must stop for a passenger at some floor above the car, and as he approaches this floor, he will be made aware of the fact seeing that the lamp 9 is lighted. Just as he reaches the floor where the passenger is to be taken on, the button 29 mounted upon the bottom portion of the car, will contact with the circuit breaking device through which a current is flowing momentarily breaking the circuit including said device. Since this circuit also includes the coils of the solenoid 15, the plunger core of the solenoid will be re leased, and the Up button which was pressed will regain its normal position. Just before the car reaches its uppermost limiting position, the inclined arm 30 contacting with the button 29 will shift said button with the block 28 to a position adapting said button on the downward trip to contact with the other circuit breaking devices.

When a Down button at any landing is pressed, a closed circuit will be established between the wires 32 and 33 through the wire 38, the correlated coil 15, the wire 39. the circuit breaking device comprising the cuit between the wires 32 and 33 will also he estahlished through the wire 38, the wire 35,

and the lamp 1O neX't above the landing at V which the button is pressed. A Jcircuitbe tween the wires 32 and. 33 will be closed through the-wire 36,. the wire 37, and the lamp 8 and the wire 38. Thus when a Down button is pressed, the lighting of the lamp 8 in the elevator cage will indicate to the operator that he must stop for a passenger on his down trip, and the lighting of the lamp 10 will inform him that he is approaching the floor at which the button was pressed.

'It is to be observed that the above de scribed system might be modified by eliminating the lamps- 9 and 10 mounted in the elevator welLand providing similarly connected lamps in an annunei'atorwithin the cage. 1

The invel'ition is presented as including all such modifications" and changes asproperly come within, the. scope of the following claim.

YVhat Iclaim'is': i

An elevator signal system comprising two lamps which, when lit, respectively serve as signals to the operator to stop during upward and downward travel of the elevator cage, two normally open circuits each containing one of said lamps, two push-buttons mounted at each elevator landing and respectively adapted to close the two said circuits, an electro-magnet correlated with each of said push-buttons,-a plunger core projecting into each electro-niagnet', and rigidly connected with the correlated pusl'rhutt'o'n,

at which the correlated electro-magnets are mounted, means'carried by the elevator cage adapted to' momentarily actuate the contact breaking devices, and devices respectively mounted at the top and bottom of the eleva tor well, adapted -to each subject the last named meansto a horizontal displacement, such as to cause one member of each pair of circuit breaking devices to be actuated dur-" ing upward travel of the cage, and the other member of each of the several pairs during downward travel of the cage e I In testimony whereof I have signed m v name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES S. JOHNSON. lVi'tn'esses J. S. MURRAY, CALLIE MOR AN.

c0i5i$ (if this l nt may be obtained for iivenents ,each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0'. 

